Real Simple Magazine‘s Amanda Armstrong observed that "getting someone to really listen is no small feat." Last week, in my Say It For You blog post, I demonstrated how two of the author’s five suggestions for winning people over might apply to corporate blog writing: Puncture your ego." and Don’t be needy." Today, by way of offering more business blogging assistance, I want to apply Armstrong’s remaining three tips.

3.  "Tell someone (nicely) what she has to lose. Although most folks say they want to hear what they can gain by taking your advice, they’re actually more influenced by what they have to lose by not heeding it," says Armstrong.

In offering business blogging assistance, I reassure owners that addressing problems and misinformation in their blog posts shines light on their special expertise and on their particular slant on the work they do. At the same time, readers don’t like to be "made wrong" by having their assertions challenged directly.  So," telling them nicely" about the opportunities they might miss is very good advice in using blogs to introduce prospects to your unique corporate identity. 

4. "Throw a curveball in conversation.  Going on a tangent – as long as it’s one you know the other person will be interested in – really works."

As a freelance SEO copywriter, one insight I’ve gained is that engaging readers’ interest by including in your blog posts facts that are only loosely related to your industry is a fine marketing strategy, if those facts are intrinsically interesting, and if they add "fun" to your blog. In other words, not every sentence you use in writing for business has to be actionable – it can be a "curveball"!.

5. "Reiterate the other person’s argument. Even if he’s reluctant to concede the point, he’ll appreciate the fact that you listened to him in the first place."

I think this tip applies to blogging for business in two ways:

• Handling negative comments posted to your business blog – summarize the "complaint" or "contradiction" before responding to it, either as a direct return comment or in a later blog post.
  
• In business blogging training sessions, I advise business owners to avoid "putting down" the competition. Instead, I teach, accentuate the positive:  Some dry cleaners………  At ABC, we believe…….is best."

Getting people to really listen may be no small feat, as Amanda Armstrong points out.  Getting found online though an SEO marketing blog’s no small feat, either, as I have learned over and over in providing blog writing services to dozens of companies. Just as it is for the public speakers Armstrong is addressing, for business blog writers, the challenge is finding ways to win over people.  In writing for business, that means getting online searchers to people to read the content – and then take action!

 

 

Today’s guest blogger is marketing speaker Michael Reynolds, President/CEO of SpinWeb.

The benefits of business blogging are numerous. A great business blog can bring benefits in the form of SEO, authority, and increased trust. However, one of the most common complaints I hear when it comes to blogging is "I just don’t have time!"

Well, I would beg to differ.

The problem is not time, the problem is context. It’s very difficult to sit down once a week and expect to magically produce great content out of thin air. However, that’s what most people think they have to do to blog effectively.

Not so. Try breaking down your idea pool and your actual content into two separate contexts.

1. Idea generation. Make this a single context. The best blog ideas often happen during a conversation, in the shower, or while listening to a seminar. Don’t fight it. Instead, have a method for capturing these ideas so you can save them for later. I use Jott for this but a basic notebook will also work fine.

2. Writing. Make this its own context by simply scheduling one hour a week on your calendar for blogging. When you sit down to blog, pull out your list of ideas, pick one, and talk about it. When you are relieved of the burden of thinking up ideas and producing content at the same time, it will be much easier.

If you’re having trouble blogging consistently, try separating your blogging into these two contexts for a month and see what happens. You might find that it becomes much easier and that you never run out of ideas.

What are your tips for better blogging? I would love to hear them!

As I always say in corporate blogging training, bloggers for business don’t need to generate ideas as much as they need to be totally open to ideas, because inspiration is everywhere.  In a former post, "Six in a Fix", I suggested myth debunking, tie-ins with the news, true life testimonials, startling statistics, unlikely comparisons, and celebrity stories.  As a freelance SEO copywriter, Ideas have come to me from radio talk shows, billboards, comic strips, and song, and of course from other expert blog content writers like Michael Reynolds!.